Tag: arsene wenger

Let’s just try and be objective about what happened at Anfield on sunday.

Arsenal’s lack of organization is something I will talk about in detail in my next post. This is something that I have called and foreseen a long time ago. It really does appear to be coming true (how I wish I was wrong).

What we witnessed on sunday should be made into a DVD and shown to children in football academies of what you should never strive to do. It was pathetic and Wenger as usual in his post match conference, when asked about the reason, conjures this :

That question is very difficult to answer straight after the game. There are some reasons but I don’t think I have too much to come out on that at the moment.

Really ?

Can you not call it like it is. That the defense lacked organization. That we needed to adapt quickly to the first goal and we didn’t. That the players seemed off and that we needed to have a better game plan.

Last season I said that after 30 games. We’ve played three games, one at home and two away. In our two first games we were quite good and performances good. Today was not acceptable. Today was not acceptable at that level.

Good ? or Lucky ??

To those people who saw the game on sunday, my heart goes out to you. We played so badly that it’s hard to digest a performance like within the first 3 matches of the season.

This is the Arsenal, or what’s left of it. So bloody disgraceful.

ANALYSIS :

For today’s post, I have decided to do a quick summary analysis of the way these spineless turds played on sunday. To compare, I have listed out what Liverpool did in each situation also.

Please be warned if the photos are not very clear, this was my first time with a camera.

The below figure shows a Liverpool side where each player has a rough idea of where his position should be.

It is important to note here that Liverpool does not have possession of the ball and thus this is the default (without the ball) set structure of the team i.e a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 depending on the situation.

The above figure is when we were trailing 1-0. Liverpool now has possession of the ball. Look at the formation. What exactly is this?

Seriously, what exactly is this?

5-4-1 or a 4-4-2 ??

Who knows where Alex Chamberlain is?

Not his fault though, he has not been instructed properly. Just told to ‘do your best’

5 mins later, we have this…

Just look at the clueless Bellerin ball-watching, not even aware of the full-back calling out for a through ball. Just look at the space!

Now, it should be noted that Arsenal has shifted to a 5-4-1 and they were trailing at this point with no threats to the Liverpool goal (excluding Welbeck’s sitter) Liverpool, on the other hand, has still kept their structure(a little stretched), despite being the ones in the lead.

Liverpool, on the other hand, has still kept their structure(a little stretched), despite being the ones in the lead.

Yes, Mr. Wenger. A 5-4-1 when we trail 1-0…did you ever think about switching from a 3 man defense to maybe a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-1-1?

2 mins later…Arsenal tries to attack.

Liverpool does not have the ball, just look at how they setup/re-shuffle accordingly. All Arsenal players are marked via zones. For 6 Arsenal players there are 6 Liverpool players on screen (barring Mane who is still tracking back)

Sanchez has the ball, but there is nobody fucking available. Why ? Because Bellerin is strolling around near him and if I am not wrong, Xhaka is chatting up with the Spaniard. The only 2 people trying to do something is Ozil and Welbeck, but given the brilliance in their positioning Sanchez can’t seem to find anyone free.

1 min later after Arsenal loses the ball and Liverpool attack…

Mane is free. The defense for some reason has become narrow. It looks like the formation and changed to a 5-2 something. Chamberlain has no clue who is at the back of him. Bellerin is again ball-watching. This was a similar position where he was caught out and could not deal with an incoming tap in (missed) by Salah (thank you, Petr Cech).

When you lack organization and instructions the above pictures are what you get. School boy defending and a shambolic shameless performance. There is no leader at the club and there is no will.

Arsenal’s will probably finish 8th or 9th this season given the way they are playing and while this is pretty disgusting it is the most realistic thing which fans should get tuned with. This is not going to be our season, in fact, I do not know what will be our season. Don’t put your hopes up and think a comeback is on…the problems lie at the heart of the team and in its structure and formation. If you send a navy seal unarmed vs someone who has a gun, no matter what seal training teaches you, the latter has leverage.

Arsenal right now is the navy seal (actually even worse, they probably have no training) and the season is the armed man.

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And so it’s been said. We all knew it, and now it’s official. The reason Arsenal have not got any silverware is because of its defensive ability.

I have written before that there has been a divide in the Arsenal sphere, and fans are now starting to choose sides, over the main issue of Sacking the Boss. Hmmm…sacking the boss, I’ll come to that later.

I hear fans say year after year we have qualified for the champions league, and that we have always finished in the top 4. Now that actually got me thinking. What has the Gooners psyche come to ? Why is it that everybody is happy that we have finished in the top 4? Where is the spirit to win something for a change. Where is the spirit to win ?

Our manager is stubborn, and his will not listen to the voice of reason. Something I have known for quite some time. Infact this is an extract of a letter I wrote to the man before the first day of the season.

Before I end my letter let me tell you something. I love my club, and I do not want to see it get beaten down so badly even though it is financially completely stable. My request to you is that, if you have any doubts that you will not be able to give us a trophy this year, please give in your resignation to the board. There is still time and a new manager can be appointed. We as Arsenal fans can never doubt what a man like you has done for the club so far as the debts are concerned. But at the end of the day, as fans, we want trophies, not balanced books. So please check yourself before you start managing this season, not only in your hands do you manage a top-class club but also in your hands rests the happiness of a million Gooners around the globe…

I doubted his contribution from the day 1 of the season, as I knew something is wrong with him. He is not pragmatic and he will not change. He WILL NOT ! IF he does not change Arsenal’s situation will not change and we will go on supporting a club which is heading down the wrong path.

Wenger has been acting like a narcissistic drone all these years, and in this year it has finally pissed us of so much that every blog I go to says that something at Arsenal should change.

SACKING THE BOSS

1.WENGER OUT :

Now to the topic of sacking the boss. Let’s look at this logically. If Wenger leaves, surely there is going to be some commotion. Gooners will not like it, and the media is going to hype it up so much, that I doubt people will have off pat the “royal wedding” anymore.

Then again, what will Arsenal gain. A new manager will come in. He shall want to spend (otherwise there is no difference between the 2, at least in this aspect), and we may get some players. As for the current crop of players, they shall not approve of the manager leaving, and we may just bid farewell to our captain as he catches the next flight to Spain.

The club shall ‘increase’ it spending, and thus this will reduce the Gross profit, and thus hamper the efficient running of the club. If the new manager spends he is not doing it the Arsenal way, so there again we have a shift in philosophy.

The entire club is going to change. Why ? Because we have a new manager with new policies, a new mindset, and a new way to do things. Unless of course the new guy is Dragan Stojkovic, but if reports are true I hear he has signed a new deal with his club.

2.WENGER STAYS :

Now if Wenger does not go then we can be assured that Cesc has a chance of staying in North London. The club will maintain its principles, values and ethics. Something which we as fans do not entirely agree on. At least, in terms of transfers.

Overall I don’t know what will change, all we can hope is that “something will.”

However, there is 1 point. If AW stays, our squad will be more comfortable with what is going around in the club. And this is quite crucial. We can compare the situation to an employee who is in a job in which he not certain to stay. If you are not certain whether you shall stay or not then you won’t work well.

To be brief, it turns into a situation where we may win a trophy, JUST LIKE EVERY YEAR, but this time our team will be even more experienced..

Wenger is not the man to lead Arsenal. Well, he did do it for 14 years. A friend of mine did mention the point that he spent 4 years out of the 6 in which we have been trophy less in rebuilding. In that time he has managed to fund an entire stadium of 60000 people. And he has NOT LET the club become like Liverpool or fall into bankruptcy. The debts are in control, and he wishes to WIN A TROPHY showing the world that he did it in a perfect manner. Ok, let me correct myself, in a manner in which he thinks is perfect.

THE VERDICT :

I have said earlier that I was not entirely convinced about him from day 1 of the season. He did not sign anybody who I felt would provide a boost to the current Arsenal team. And well, I was right. But at the same time, I was wrong. Szczesny has proved AW’s fate in his young goalies. Rambo and Jack have again re-instilled faith in us Gooners that they can carry this team. And as it stands we have really improved on our performances this season. Now I know some may say we have less points than last season, but there is a difference here which these ‘some’ forget. Every year the premier league becomes more and more difficult. Every year we have teams performing better. As competitiveness increases so does the standard, and hence the results. This time the title will be won with the lowest points total, so one can see the difference in standards between the 2010 and 2011.

I am not going to lie here. DKD and I(but especially DKD) have abused Wenger, and called him many things because I felt he was not good enough with his tactics. Few Experts believe that Wenger is a great coach but not a great manager. If you ever notice, the formations which he puts up have no real sting in them. For instance, under Mourinho Inter played a 4-2-1-3 when they faced Italian teams, but when they face FCB they switched to a 5-4-1. Each formation has a stint of ‘attack’, or ‘ultra defense’ in them. He played Eto as a LB in the Nou Camp, so that tells you alot. The only thing which our manager does is swap the players positions in formations. If we play a 4-3-3, then the 3 in the middle go on changing. Everything else is static.

Szczesny has come out and said that he believes in Wenger and that the manager should not change. He has reasons to believe it as he says that the team is responsible and that the manager has stood by them throughout the season. That I have to agree on. AW has stood behind this team as if it was his child. He has build this team, and he has not given up hope on this team, ever !

Should he stay or should he go….

DKD’sVERDICT :

I feel he should stay. Yes, I know it may come as a shocker to ‘some people’, who feels are ‘AW’s followers’ and visit this blog often, but I think he should stay. BUT, (and I have to mention this one) my verdict is mainly based on the fact he will not realistically leave because the board do not have the spine to sack him !

MY VERDICT : He should stay

Well, what can be the worst case scenario if he stays. The club will repeat what they have done for 6 years. And after the season finishes he will be forced to change, by if I may add, a very very very very very Angry fan Base !

On the other hand if he stays, we are going to contest for the title, forget that, we are going to contest for the ‘Quadruple’ and we shall be run in an efficient manner. And well, we may just win something ! I mean look how close we were this season…

CONCLUSION :

I hope my verdict is okay, in view of ‘the things’ I have said against our manager. Personally I believe the man deserves something (as I have already stated in my ‘About’ section) or life is just not fair. Come on Gooners lets stick by him a little longer. I mean if he can stick by players such as Denilson, then we can surely do our part and stick by him !

Guns-out,

THE ARMOURY

PS : Did anyone know that Osama Bin Laden was an Arsenal Fan ?

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When the final whistle was blown at Highbury on 15th May,2004. the feeling that all Arsenal fans got was something only Preston North End fans had experienced in 1889. They were invincible, indeed unbreakable.

Who did we not have at that time ? One of the best strikers in the world, 2 classic magicians alongside him. Our keeper was indeed a crazy ****, but he was ‘good.’…a classy midfield and defence, and most of all that ‘Godly’ feeling which resided in the team….

5 years down the road, Arsenal FC is the same, except for a few things such as, you know, we don’t have Henry, Dennis is still at the club (but not where we want him), Pires, Gilberto,Lehmann, Ljunberg are absent in the attendance register of the club and last, we have a complex instead of Highbury.

Today we have no FA Cup titles since our FA cup victory in 2005, no Premiership titles since the Premier League title in 2004…But what do we have instead ?

When the move to the Emirates Stadium was thought of and finalised, Arsene knew that the clubs finances would be curtailed for the upcoming seasons. He didn’t care much about the titles, for he knew they would come. A title can be grinded out,lets face it, Portsmouth won the FA Cup, but a club can never win in an unstable state, or in simpler words, a team like Liverpool ca-…I wont’ even bother writing it.

“Deeper the Foundation, Stronger the Fortress” that was the motto of the Arsenal.

So, we would not win in 06,07,08,09, but look at what the club has achieved. Every time we have qualified for the champions league. Our debt has reduced significantly. Now indeed this would take time, and it has. 4 years goddamn it, and we were so close in the 2007-2008 league season up to 26th February. So when you put on an Arsenal shirt next time, don’t just see it from the footballers point of view, see it from the clubs perspective too…Always remember “We play the beautiful game, the way it was meant to be played.”

When Viera said that the club needed to buy world class players “AW” replied that when the club signed him, he was not World-class. What can you infer out of that reply. Well, in my opinion he believes in his ideals, in his philosophy. Moreover, he believes in this team. And that quality is immense.

If you do not believe you can do it then you have no chance at all.

A real fact is however is that we saw an invincible team, and our standards have been set up to that high level. FC Barcelona can never achieve more than they have done in the 2008-2009 league season, its bloody impossible. So, FCB fans will always want the club to achieve that level again, as after all we want our club to be the best. Anything below that level will not be as satisfying for them as before. But changes take place, and fans should consider these changes.

It easy to sign Lionel Messi on your PS3 or when you play Fifa or PES, just pay about 45 ml, and you got him. But in reality, clubs barring a “few” can’t spend like that in raw-cash. Overall even if one payed 100 ml euros , do you think Barcelona would sell Messi. I mean that Sheikh guy offered FCB a blank-cheque!..and they refused.

Now there were some matches in which the club deserved to get insulted by the fans and those were the matches against United in the champions league and Premier league. As in those matches, the team did not even try….I still remember reading in the internet some petition to sack Wenger or something !..(though that was a bit too much)

Its easy to get angry with the club when they don’t win or when they don’t do something which majority of the fans want. That shows how deeply one is attached to his club. This feeling even I understand, but..

I urge you Gooners out there, believe in the Arsenal. Yes, we may not have trophies and that is what we fans want, but the very fact that the club has developed and its foundation for the long-term has been set up, is actually remarkable.

The fact that we can tell to this to any other club fan, especially the former top 4 team supporters is quite commendable.Look at Manchester United, their debt-situation is so bad, that they actually had to include Ronaldo’s transfer money to show a profit in their financial statements. Old Trafford as well as their training ground have been put under mortgage. In other words, if they don’t pay up, we might see them on the road playing their premier league matches.! Want more encouragement, look at Liverpool. If they don’t manage to pay their loan within 6 th October,2010, their club goes under the banks hands !..Arsenal has been set at a stable financial level, and this will prove to be fruitful in the near future.

Now sometimes, he gets it wrong, and nobody denies that. I mean, I am the first to get really pissed of at him and swear at him. But I have faith in him and I urge you to do the same.The guy knows what he is doing.

I assure you Gooners, the feeling we shall get when we win a title under him will be different – A bit better than that of 15th May,2004….A new era shall begin, because that ‘mental block’ will be over. Any doubtful fan will be convinced that a team with a calibre like this can go on to achieve greater things…

Keep the faith &

CHEERS TO THE ARSENAL,

DKD

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Arsenal shall take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this week. The Gunners last visit here did not go the way it was supposed to with the team stumbling to a 1-0 defeat, courtesy of a Darren Bent finish.

Among those injured include the names of: Theo, RVP, Nikko, Aaron. The boss had given us an update on Abou’s status before the match against SC Braga.

“I’m vague [about the length of Diaby’s absence] because it’s the ankle on which he had surgery,” said the manager.

“I was very anxious because he had a scan yesterday [Monday] and with Diaby there are always bad surprises on the scan. But the scan looks quite promising.

“We don’t know how long he will be out as we don’t know how long the inflammation will take to go down.”

However the clubs official website yesterday stated that Abou and Tommy- V are expected to be back in the squad to face West Brom next week. ( So I guess it’s not that bad after all… )

THE TEAM SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS :

——————————————————– ALMUNIA—————————————————–

—–SAGNA———————SQUILLACI———————————-KOSHER————————–CLICHY

———————————————————-SONG———————————————————-

———————————-CESC——————————————-WILSHERE——————————–

–ROSICKY—————————————–CHAMAKH————————————ARSHAVIN—-

SUBS : FABIANSKI, EBOUE, DJOUROU, VELA, DENILSON, GIBBS, NASRI

Best of luck lads….

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With the transfer dead-line approaching today, reports are flying high across the UK and all over the world of new players about to enter clubs or rather linked with clubs. In most recent news, Arsene Wenger is on a scavenger hunt for a new GK…and we wish him best of luck. Guess he wants to save the best for last, eh ? Apparently, he has launched a bid for Lyon keeper Hugo Lloris. (Keep your fingers crossed Gooners !…) In other news, Internationale Milano were high last night when they faxed a bid to Arsenal about a possible move for Cesc Fabregas. Wenger in turn replied with a diagram showing a “special finger.”, and no he was not high. Also, former Gunner Hleb has been loaned to Birmingham City. And lastly, (and hopefully not the least) Armand Traore has been “lent” off to Juventus….

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Arsenal had to take the lead twice against Blackburn today to register all 3 points from Ewood Park. It is true that with RVP and Cesc back in the squad, we did get a boost in squad quality. But if you ask anyone, a trip to Ewood Park is not at all very easy. We had to with-stand a battering from the Rovers to earn 3 points, and ”Yes,” we did it.

We started of on a positive note, and frankly I cannot say the same thing about Blackburn. Football depends on perspective , in my opinion we played better than Rovers today and deserved to win the match. Their tactic was the usual – Using Long-throws, playing the long-ball and hard crunching tackling. But we did expect this from them and we cannot complain about it. By the 7th min a sunny day at Ewood Park turned into a rainy one,with rain teeming down on the grass surface. Blackburn got their first real chance in the 8th minute, when Nelsen’s header was headed off the line by Cesc. 6o seconds later they came at us again. This time Almunia was forced to make a save of Samba, as a result of which he hit his head on the post. Blackburn deployed their usual tactics throughout the game – playing long-balls when they had possession and resorting to ‘hunt in packs’ when they didn’t. In the 17 th minute, Diaby found space in the mid-field, he played the ball to Arshavin who took a cracker of a shot, only to be blocked off by Salgado. As the clock hit 19, the Gunners got their 1st goal. Arshavin passed the ball to RVP through 2 defenders, and the dutch-man found Theo. Little Theo took the opportunity and smashed the ball low and hard into the bottom of the net….1-0 to the Arsenal.

Once we got the 1st goal , confidence began to flow through out the team.Passes began to flow and the rhythm of the game was shaping up. Then came the catch. In the 26 th minute, Diouf collected the ball on the far-left and came inwards, shrugging off Kosher, he soon found himself one on one with Almunia. Manuel did charge but he slid the ball back across the face of goal to Mame, who tucked the ball inside the net. In my opinion Kosher and Gael were both at fault here. The former was too easily bullied and Gael should have looked back to see the incoming Diouf – II !

As we passed the 30 min mark, RVP took a knock, and was substituted by Chamakh. Later that day Wenger confirmed :

“It is a twisted ankle. We will have to check but if we have no bad news, we hope that in 8-10 days he can be okay”.

12 minutes after the goal, the atmosphere at Ewood Park settled down and we put together a good string of passes, only for Diaby to fumble his shot at the end. And at half-time, one could say that Big-Sam was the happier manager…

4 minutes after the break, Arsenal took the lead. Sagna ran down the right flank and gave it to Fabregas who took a shot, it rebounded of Theo’s back and fell to Andrey who tucked it into the bottom of the net…2-1 to the Arsenal. With the crucial goal in hand, confidence began to flow inside the Arsenal ranks once again. In the 53rd min, Arshavin back-heeled the ball to Cesc, who found Chamakh, but the Moroccan international had his shot blocked(Wonderful play by the team!) In the 67th min, Cesc was taken of for “Little Mozart.” From that time on, play continued as normal. We prefered the passing tactic and our opponents preferred the ‘long Ball’ one. With 15 minutes to go, Givet was booked because of pulling Theo shirt, when the winger got the better of him. A minute later, Rosicky found Theo and the Englishman smashed a 20 yard cracker, just above the bar. When the final 10 mins came, Blackburn became impatient. When Diaby cleared a cross from his head in the 82nd min, Salgado smashed it over the bar. This brave act was followed by a series of Blackburn waves, but the lead stood firm. In the 90th min, Arsenal got the opportunity to finish of the game with the counter-attack, but Jack had his shot saved by Robinson. Nevertheless, 3 points were all ours…

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Sevilla defender, Sebastien Squillaci is set to sign for Arsenal within the next few-days. Reports emerged today that the French-defender flew to London for a medical :

Defender Sebastien Squillaci in the night travel to London today in order to pass Monday a medical with Arsenal, the club they will be traded after the agreement reached by both clubs, which is at the expense of those physical evidence.

Squillaci argued last Wednesday, not feeling well from the standpoint of mind for not playing the first leg of the qualifying round of play offs against Sporting Braga at the tempo that Arsenal made an offer to Seville for the player. Sevilla FC Squillaci came two seasons ago, from Olympique Lyon.

Reports in Spain state that a deal for about 6 million pounds has been agreed between the 2 clubs. If we get him, then we just need a keeper, and that’s it…we’re all set for the new season. Squillaci is experienced and shall add a substantial amount of quality to our existing defense…keep your fingers crossed and pray this deal goes through. We require a defender, and we have ‘almost’ got one…